Dallas DA refuses to testify, held in contempt

DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas County district attorney was held in contempt of court Thursday after he refused to answer questions about whether his office prosecuted an oil fortune heir as a favor to a friend and campaign donor.

Craig Watkins appeared briefly in a packed courtroom Thursday morning during a hearing in the case of Al Hill III. He stood silently as one of his attorneys told Judge Lena Levario that Watkins would not testify about the case on two grounds: attorney-client privilege and the privilege that allows prosecutors to withhold some notes and other materials in developing a case.

Watkins then took the stand, where one of Hill's attorneys asked him two questions. Watkins refused to answer either. Levario then declared him in contempt, but said she would not issue any immediate action against him. He left the room through a back entrance.

Hill is a great-grandson of oil titan H. L. Hunt who is charged with mortgage fraud. Hill's attorneys allege their client is being targeted as a favor to attorney Lisa Blue, a friend of Watkins' and a campaign donor.

Blue is entangled in a fee dispute with Hill over a separate civil case. She is also involved in a federal investigation in which the Hill case could play a role, one of her attorneys said.

Blue previously invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to testify in the Hill case.

Levario said Watkins could also decline to testify under the Fifth Amendment, but he didn't do so Thursday.

Prosecutors say Hill filed incorrect paperwork to obtain a $500,000 loan by listing a home he did not fully own as collateral. His attorneys argue he paid back the loan before a case was filed and that no criminal activity took place. They also say prosecutors only pursued the case when they were tipped by Hill's father, who fought his son for years in a federal civil suit.

Other witnesses acknowledged the case received extra scrutiny partly due to Hill's fame in Dallas and the family's wealth.

Terri Moore, Watkins' former top deputy, testified Thursday that she and Watkins held a "pitch meeting" before the case went to a grand jury.

Prosecutors showed a slide presentation used at the pitch meeting that makes clear they were aware that Hill was famous. The presentation lists several of Hill's failed business ventures, outlines his family's bank accounts and mentions that his wife, Erin Hill, is a former Miss Georgia and Miss America runner-up. It even included a pageant photo of Hill that Levario called "tacky."

While Blue has said in an affidavit that she spoke to Watkins and that Al Hill's name briefly came up, Moore said she couldn't remember Watkins mentioning those conversations. Moore also said Watkins did not intervene in the Hill case.

"Mr. Watkins wasn't anywhere around," Moore said. "Ms. Blue wasn't anywhere around. It was based on what they were finding out in the investigation."

The hearing was scheduled to continue Thursday afternoon. Levario did not indicate when she would rule on any sanctions for Watkins or whether the case against Hill could go forward.